Total fire bans and fire danger ratings: what they mean for camping.

What is a Total Fire Ban?

A Total Fire Ban is declared on days when fires would be hard to control, usually because of heat, wind and dry conditions. It is a separate decision from the day’s Fire Danger Rating, and it comes with rules you must follow.9 Bans are declared for an area, such as a local government area, fire district or region, and usually last 24 hours, starting at midnight.11265 Queensland calls them fire bans, and the Queensland Fire Department says a declared ban normally covers an entire local government area, including parks and forests.3

Because bans are declared by area, the ban that applies at your campsite may differ from the one at the town you drove through. Look up the exact area you are staying in.

Can you have a campfire on a Total Fire Ban day?

No. Every agency we read says the same: you cannot light, maintain or use a fire in the open on a ban day.1267 Western Australia’s DFES says that includes fire pits and drums.1 Queensland says it includes the fire rings and barbecues supplied in parks, and wood-fuelled braziers.3 Tasmania’s Parks and Wildlife Service says wood, charcoal, and solid or liquid fuel fires are all prohibited.11

If you are already burning when a ban is declared, the Northern Territory says to put the fire out, and its permits to burn are void.6 NSW also suspends fire permits on ban days.2

What do the four fire danger ratings mean for campers?

Since 1 September 2022, Australia has used one fire danger rating system, with the same four levels and messages in every state and territory.1314 A fifth label, No Rating, is used on days with minimal risk, such as when it is raining.1315

• Moderate: plan and prepare

  Stay up to date and be ready to act if there is a fire. The ACT Emergency Services Agency says most fires can be controlled at this level.13 For campers, that means knowing your exit route and checking conditions each morning.

• High: be ready to act

  There is a heightened risk. The Northern Territory advises being alert for fires in your area and deciding what you will do if one starts.15 Local fire rules can bite at this level: in WA, DFES says you cannot light an outdoor fire for camping or cooking on High, Extreme or Catastrophic days during a council’s restricted burning period.16

• Extreme: take action now to protect your life and property

  These are dangerous fire conditions. The NT advises reconsidering travel through bushfire risk areas.15 South Australia says a Total Fire Ban is declared for days when the rating is Extreme or Catastrophic.12 For campers, this is the day to change plans or leave bush areas early.

• Catastrophic: for your survival, leave bushfire risk areas

  The NT says these are the most dangerous conditions for a fire, that homes cannot withstand fires in them, and that you may not be able to leave once a fire starts. It advises going to a safer location early in the morning or the night before.15 For campers, that means not being in a bush or forest area.

Rating or ban? NSW RFS says a rating shows how dangerous a fire would be if one started, while a Total Fire Ban is a separate declaration with its own rules.9 You can have a Moderate or High day with no ban and still be under a council or park restriction, so read both.

What is banned on a Total Fire Ban day?

• Campfires, fire pits and drums. Banned in every state and territory.12357
• Solid-fuel cookers. NSW RFS says barbecues and pizza ovens that burn wood, charcoal or heat beads cannot be used outside.2 DFES says the same for wood, charcoal, pellets and kettle barbecues in areas that are not fully enclosed.1 Tasmania lists only electric and LPG cookers as allowed.5 In South Australia a solid-fuel kettle barbecue cannot be used without a permit that is generally issued only for emergencies.4 The Northern Territory is the exception: its page says a gas or coal BBQ may still be used.6
• Hot work and sparks. In NSW and the ACT, welding, grinding and similar work in the open is banned too, which matters if you are repairing something at camp.217
• Driving through vegetation. In WA, DFES says you cannot drive a 4WD, motorbike or quad where the vehicle touches vegetation. Roads, tracks and bare ground are fine.1

Can I use a gas cooker or BBQ on a Total Fire Ban day?

Sometimes, and the conditions are different in each place, so this is where campers most often go wrong. The table gives each agency’s rule in our words. A barbecue at a home, caravan park or council picnic area is treated differently from a portable stove at a bush campsite, so when in doubt, do not light it.

Two things stand out. First, the same gas stove can be fine in one state and banned in another state’s parks, so a general rule of thumb is not safe. Second, the distance, clearance and supervision conditions are specific numbers that change by place. Follow the agency’s version for where you are.

Do national parks and State forests set their own fire bans?

Yes. A ban in a park or forest can apply even when no Total Fire Ban is declared, and parks often add rules on top of a ban.

• NSW. NSW RFS says Solid Fuel and Park Fire Bans can apply in State Forests and National Parks on non-ban days.9 Forestry Corporation says that during a solid fuel ban in State forests only gas appliances are allowed, and that breaching one carries a maximum penalty of $2,200.22
• Queensland. QPWS can impose a fire prohibition in all or part of a park or forest, even without a Queensland Fire Department ban. During one, wood-fuelled fires are out, but self-contained appliances on gas or manufactured fuel can still be used if they stand at least 20 centimetres off the ground, more than 2 metres from flammable material, and are never left unattended.10 Our free camping in Queensland guide has the permit rules.
• South Australia. The CFS says all open fires, liquid fuel and gas stoves are banned in all parks on Total Fire Ban days, and parks may be closed. The parks service adds that many parks never allow wood or charcoal fires.421 Our free camping in South Australia guide has the booking rules.
• Tasmania. Seasonal campfire bans on reserved land started on 26 October 2026 in 20 municipalities. Signs can go up at short notice and have immediate effect. Some fragile areas ban open fires all year but allow fuel stoves, except on Total Fire Ban days.11
• ACT. Campfires are permitted only in a small number of areas, in the fireplaces provided, and never on a Total Fire Ban day.8
• Western Australia. DFES says no fire is allowed in national parks or forest reserves on a ban day.1 Our fire season camping in WA guide covers council burning periods and campground rules.
• Victoria. State forest campfires must use a purpose-built fireplace, and in forest reserves only fireplaces the land manager provides.19 Our free camping in Victoria guide sets out the layers.

What are the penalties?

Only some agencies publish figures on the pages we read:

• WA: a $1,000 infringement, and on conviction a fine of up to $25,000 and up to 12 months in jail.1
• NSW: an on-the-spot fine of $2,200, or a court fine of up to $5,500 and/or 12 months in jail. If a fire escapes and causes damage, the maximums rise to $132,000 and/or 14 years.2
• NT: the page says you could be charged the maximum penalty or face imprisonment, without giving an amount.6

The Queensland, South Australian, Tasmanian, Victorian and ACT pages we read did not give a figure for a ban breach, so we do not quote one.

How do I check if there is a ban where I am camping?

1. Work out the fire district or council area of your campsite, not just the nearest town.
2. Check the agency in the table the evening before and again in the morning. Ratings are set each afternoon for the following day, and the days after that are only forecasts.912
3. If you are in a park or forest, also check that land manager’s alerts or signs.
4. If you are heading beyond phone signal, check before you lose coverage, and take a gas or electric option as a back-up.

How Trek Eleven helps

Trek Eleven is a free camping app for all of Australia. For fire planning, here is what it does today:

• You can browse the map and lists with no account.
• Every fact shows where it came from and when. A place no one has checked says so plainly.
• You set your vehicle once, and access notes are flagged for it.
• Saved and recently viewed places open with no signal, so your plan is still there when the coverage is not.
• If something is wrong, closed or washed out, you can report it from the place page.

The app shows official warnings for most states, but they can be late, so use the official sources in the box below too. See the how it works and how we check pages, or read check before you go. For state rules on where you can camp, read our guides to Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania, or see free camping across Australia for every state.

Find places near you

Our region and Camping near pages list the campsites, caravan parks and rest areas on record in every state and territory, from open data. Each place says whether Trek Eleven has checked it, and unchecked places are only suggestions. They do not say that camping is allowed, free or open, so read the sources above first.

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